Intel to kill off Celerons in 2011

According to Digitimes, Intel has told its notebook partners that it will phase out Celeron processors in 2011. The venerable Celerons will be replaced by dual-core Atom processors as well as some Pentium SKUs.

We’re already seen a couple of dual-core Atoms in unannounced netbooks, the CPUs are slated to go on sale soon, during this quarter. The 1.5GHz Atom N550 should be the first mobile dual-core Atom to appear. However, at $86 it costs the same as a P4500, which is a proper dual-core processor, so it doesn’t sound like a very good deal.

Intel has relied on several Celeron processors in the entry level market, ranging from the single core Celeron 900 to the dual-core P4500. It also offers two Celeron ULV parts for thin-and-light notebooks. Intel will introduce several faster Celeron SKUs by September, but they will obviously have a limited lifespan.